CAPUTE!

Atari Laser Chess And Biker Dave

Some users have had difficulty getting the Atari versions of Laser Chess (June 1987) and "Biker Dave" (November 1986) to run properly. Both of these programs expect that certain variables will be located at the beginning of BASIC's variable table. "The Automatic Proofreader" program uses BASIC variables, and BASIC does not clear out its variable table when you type NEW, so the critical variables may not appear where intended after these programs are typed in using the Proofreader.

To create a working version of either program, load the program as you typed it in and list it to tape or disk (that is, use a LIST command, not a SAVE command, to store the program). Turn the computer off and back on; then use the ENTER command to reload the listed version. This eliminates the improper variable table. At this point, you can create a version that can be loaded with the LOAD command (which works faster than ENTER) by using SAVE to save out a new copy of the program.

Atari Disk Sector Editor

This powerful disk utility (May 1987) works as listed, but imposes an unnecessary limitation on the editing of disks formatted in DOS 2.5's enhanced-density mode. As presented, the program will not allow the editing of sectors above 1010 on an enhanced-density disk. However, the highest sector on an enhanced-density disk is 1023, not 1010. A newly formatted enhanced-density disk has 1010 free sectors; the remaining sectors are set aside for the Volume Table of Contents (VTOC). To provide access to sectors 1011-1023, change the value 1010 in lines 690 and 710 to 1023, and change the (720 + DENSITY * 290) in line 1340 to (720 + DENSITY * 303). Thanks to John Jennings for pointing out this oversight.

Font Printer For The IBM PC/PCjr

A number of readers have written to complain about the fact that the 25 bonus font files included on the COMPUTE! Disk with this program from the June issue were not printed in the magazine as well. It is our policy to include in the magazine everything that appears on the quarterly disk, but in this particular case that wasn't feasible. The combined font files were almost 120,000 bytes long—which would have translated to about 60 magazine pages of listings. We suspect that even the most proficient typist would have found the task a bit daunting.